


Cat-Astrophe

by basic_unicorn



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Cat adoption, Cutesy, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Fluffapalooza, bad at flirting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29394780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/basic_unicorn/pseuds/basic_unicorn
Summary: Belle and Mr. Gold are hopelessly in love with each other but it takes a snarly cat and an unfortunate fire to bring them together.
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Dorothy Gale/Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Prince Charming | David Nolan/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39





	Cat-Astrophe

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Fluffapalooza 2021 everyone!  
> I know it's only the first chapter but I'm not planning on this being very long and I wanted to at least get something of this story up on the 12th (I know it's late but it's still the 12th where I am so I'm saying it counts).  
> I adore the way we celebrate the anniversary of Rumbelle. This fandom is keeping me going this year.  
> No beta yet, all mistakes are my own.
> 
> Find me on tumblr at [basicallyunicorn](https://basicallyunicorn.tumblr.com/)!

**Chapter 1**

The chime on the door to the Storybrooke Animal Shelter was supposed to be cute, a delightful mix of bird calls that Mary Margret adored the minute she heard it, but David wanted to rip the damn thing out of the wall and throw it into the river.

He didn’t of course. Mary Margret would know and he liked his warm bed over the proverbial doghouse. So now, at four thirty on a Wednesday evening, instead of finding a hammer and beating the blasted things into silence, David merely sighed as the bird calls rang through the shelter, brushed dog hair off his knees, and went to see to the potential customer.

Belle French, the lovely local librarian who had a smile for everyone and a book recommendation on her lips at all times, stood next to the counter, holding a small stack of paper and wearing a smile so bright, David thought he might go blind.

“Well, hi there,” David said, smiling back because honestly, he was married, not dead.

“I got it!” Her hand almost flapped off her wrist as she waved the bundle of paper in front of him.

“Got what?” He wore confusion well so didn’t bother to hide it, just kept smiling and squinting his eyes.

“You said the shelter requires all renters to have a signed agreement from their landlord before a pet adoption,” Belle said with a look and David decided that exasperation could still be charming if it wore her face.

David nodded, walking behind the counter to take a look at her papers. “Can’t have animals being returned just because someone thought they could get around their lease.” 

“Hey, it makes sense. Even so, I got it in the end.” Slipping off her coat, she draped it over one arm as he looked over her rental agreement. “I’m looking for a cat.”

David stared down at the signed addition to the rental agreement, a caveat that one Miss Belle French was allowed one small pet of her choosing. David blinked a couple of times and shook his head and then looked back down at the paper.

Nope. It hadn’t changed. Gold’s signature still scrawled its way across the bottom. Life no longer made sense. He looked outside to check the color of the sky just in case that had also seen fit to change on him without warning.

It was an age-old argument in Storybrooke. Mr. Gold owned most of the rental properties in town and he had a strict “no pets” policy that only excluded service animals. He’d seen people petition the man for months and he never budged. The shelter offered obedience classes, endurance courses, doggy daycare, grooming, everything it could to make it easier to own a well-behaved pet and Mr. Gold still refused to sign a single release.

_Until now._

Glancing up at Belle, he cleared his throat. “I’ll just, um, go make a copy of this.” He pointed down the hall. “We don’t have many adult cats right now but there are some cute kittens in the last room with their mother.”

She grinned and spun on her heel, a small squeal of delight slipping from her lips as she hurried into the feline section of the shelter. Once she’d turned the corner, David pulled out his phone, dialing his wife’s number as he walked to the copy machine.

“Hey, everything okay?” Mary Margret’s voice held notes of panic and he smiled at her worry.

“Nothing’s wrong, just had a question.”

The copy machine blinked an error message and David kicked the right side a couple of times until it chugged back to life.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“To your knowledge, has Mr. Gold ever amended a lease to allow someone to have a pet in one of his properties?”

“Archie has Pongo.”

“Pongo is a service dog, that’s different.”

“Hmm, then no, I don’t think so.” He caught the sound of a bag of chips opening and smiled.

“Am I interrupting lunch?”

“Well, I’m not going to talk about Mr. Gold and go hungry.”

He chuckled and rubbed a black smudge on the side of the copier. “Okay, then mark the date, cause someone just came in to get a cat with his permission.”

Silence fell across the line for a moment before David heard her make a soft gasp. “It’s Belle, right?”

David frowned as he filed his copy of Belle’s rental agreement in with her adoption application. “How did you know?” 

“Because Emma sees all and she tells me everything,” Mary Margret answered with a giggle. “Apparently Mr. Gold has a soft spot for our little librarian.”

You’re joking. That man doesn’t have soft spots, period.”

“I’m just passing on what Emma told me.” There was a brief moment of pause as Mary Margret crunched through one of her chips. “She says he had his man Dove help her move furniture in and overheard him offer to repaint the apartment walls if she didn’t like the current color.” Another crunch followed her news and then she continued. “Emma also caught him giving Belle his personal number in case of emergencies.”

“Wow,” David closed the filing cabinet and leaned back against the wall. “Archie still has to leave a message at the shop or call Dove’s line.”

“It’s a pity she’s so nice,” Mary Margret said with another small laugh. “Otherwise we could use this as leverage against him.”

“Ha, no one comes out better on a deal than Gold.”

“Except Belle French.”

“Maybe she’s already got something on him and this is blackmail.”

Mary Margret huffed. “Have you been watching those cop shows again?”

“Maybe,” David answered with a slow drawl. “Still, I wonder if she knows.”

“God, I hope not. This town goes through enough without having to deal with a rejected beast.”

True enough.” He sighed and looked back down the hall. “I should go see how she’s doing.”

“Okay, tell me all about it when you get home.”

“Will do, love you.”

“Love you too.”

Hanging up the phone, David dragged a hand through his hair and went to see which cat or kitten Belle might have taken a fancy to.

What he found filled him with horror.

Belle sat crosslegged next to a kennel that sounded like it held the soul of a demon-possessed toddler, all low growling and hissing and claws raking across the concrete. She still wore that damn smile and her eyes brightened as David approached.

“I see you’ve met Demon,” David said, trying to silence the warning sirens in his head. “The kitten room is a few doors down.”

“Oh, I don’t want a kitten.” Belle’s laugh chimed like a song through the hall. “Kittens are too much work and I’ve got a full-time job.”

“Oh, well Marta over here is really relaxed and a perfect apartment cat.” He resolutely ignored the harsh growl from the kennel and walked over to where Marta lay with her tail over her nose, looking for all the world like she was sleeping.

Belle shook her head. “No, I know which one I want.”

Swallowing a lump down his throat, David watched her point to Demon’s kennel and tried not to wince.

“You can’t be serious.” 

At once he knew his words were a mistake. Her smile disappeared and frown lines marred her forehead (they, of course, were adorable frown lines because Belle’s face refused to be anything else).

“I might be a small town librarian, Mr. Nolan, but I do know how to make up my own mind.”

“Of course, yes, but, Demon really does live up to his name.” David pointed at the information sheet listed next to Demon’s kennel. “Please tell me you read that.”

“Yes, I did,” Belle said, pushing herself up from the floor and crossing her arms. “What that says is that he’s going to stay here for the rest of his life if I don’t adopt him. Every animal deserves a home, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Usually,” David replied as sweat gathered at his hairline. “But that cat only knows one thing and that’s pure hatred. I can’t let you adopt him when I know, I know he’ll be back here within days because you want him to love you and he can’t.”

“I don’t want him to love me,” Belle said, her voice taking on what David liked to call her “stern librarian” tone. “I just want him to have a life outside this cage.” She looked back into the kennel. “Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”

“Um, okay.” He looked into the kennel to see Demon curled into a corner, his claws extended as he yowled in protest.”

“It’s from Hans Christen Andersen,” Belle answered, her voice soft and pleading. “Let me give him his freedom, David. Please.”

He knew he’d give in. He had to. Belle could make Mr. Gold do as she wished and that meant David Nolan didn’t stand a chance.

“I’ll go fill out the paperwork and call Ruby.”

“Ruby?”

“We’re going to need to transfer him to a small carrier and that’s going to get painful if we aren’t careful.”

Belle only nodded at David’s last ditch effort to make her change her mind and bent down to look Demon in the eyes. “I’ll get you out of here sweetie, I promise.”

*******

It took three tries for Ruby and David to round up Demon and stick him in the carrier. He thrashed and growled while she filled out the paperwork and paid her fee, yowled at the top of his lungs the entire ride home to her apartment above the library, and hissed and spat all the way up the stairs into her living room.

Belle shook her head and smiled. He had a fighter’s spirit and that suited her just fine. It was an odd pairing, she knew. Demon (she really must find a new name for him) bore the scars of his life for all to see, a half missing tail, bite holes in his ears, and a scar along his rump that looked like a burn mark. For all his scars, or perhaps because of them, he was an impressive cat with dark gray fur, white patches scattered on his chest and legs, and bright green eyes. He also had what looked like very sharp teeth and well-honed claws. 

“Give me a minute to get the supplies from the car and then I’ll let you out.”

Demon hissed at the sound of her voice. From watching David and Ruby, she knew he had plenty of bite to back up his bark and Belle crossed her fingers that he wouldn’t claw her eyes out when she opened his carrier.

_He deserves some love and attention, anyone can see that, even if he’s rude about it._

As she unloaded her various supplies onto the sidewalk, food and water bowls, a litter box with an accompanying bag of sand, cans of wet cat food, she heard the very familiar ‘tap step’ gait of Mr. Gold.

“Hello, Miss French,” he said in that rich floating accent of his that stared in far too many of her daydreams these days. “I see you wasted no time.”

Belle gave him a wide smile, already fighting back her blush. “I didn’t see the point, strike while the iron is hot and all that.”

“Indeed.” He pulled at the sleeves of his jacket, straightening the elegant material. “Did you need help with anything?”

“Oh, no, you don’t have to help.” She waved her hand towards her supplies. “I’m sure you have better things to do than haul things around for me.”

She watched him shift and adjust his stance with a shrug, “Well then, I wish you and your new companion a pleasant evening.”

“Thank you,” Belle said and tried to keep her voice steady. “Have a good evening, Mr. Gold.”

He tilted his head in a gentleman’s farewell and walked on, no doubt heading home where he didn’t have to deal with librarians who turned into babbling idiots in his presence.

_That could have gone better._

It had taken two visits to his shop, each time trying to talk him into revising her pet policy, for Belle to realize her attraction to the mysterious and aloof Mr. Gold. His voice sent shivers down her spine and she loved watching him talk with his hands whenever he forgot to curb his enthusiasm about a subject. There was something melancholy about him and she felt so drawn to his presence. 

_Now if I could only bring it up without acting like a complete idiot._

Glancing back at her cat supplies, she sighed and looked up at the window of her apartment. While she didn’t know how to deal with her absurd crush on the landlord and pawnshop owner, she could at least handle the newest relationship in her life.


End file.
